Quick connect/disconnect coupling assemblies for small flexible tube applications and other applications are known in the art. Such couplings are utilized for bio-medical applications, convenience handling, beverage dispensing, instrument connections, photochemical handling, etc.
In applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,125 ('125), there is disclosed a quick connect/disconnect coupling assembly including cooperating female and male couplings, each defining a fluid passageway therethrough. The male coupling is constructed for releasable attachment to the female coupling. The male coupling includes a seal for providing a fluid tight seal between the male and female couplings. The female coupling includes a releasable locking or quick connecting/disconnecting mechanism for locking the male and female couplings together in a coupled state. The locking mechanism includes a locking collar or plate which is slidably mounted in grooves formed in the female coupling. The plate slides between a first or released position and a second or locked position. In the locked state, an inner edge of the plate extends into the bore of the female coupling and engages a groove or indentation in the surface of the male coupling so as to lock the male and female coupling together. As is illustrated and described in this patent, the locking mechanism includes several parts and is made of metal.
Nitto Kohki Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan, illustrates on page 38 of its Quick Connective Fluid Coupler Catalog a coupling, referred to as a resin coupler, having a locking or quick connecting/disconnecting mechanism similar in many respects to that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,125. However, the quick connecting/disconnecting mechanism is molded and is comprised of a reduced number of parts. The female coupling and the connecting/disconnecting mechanism are comprised of three parts: the female coupling housing, a locking collar or plate, and a sleeve for retaining the locking collar on the female coupling. The sleeve further cooperates with the female connector housing to prevent the female and male couplings from separating when connected.
While the Nitto resin coupler has reduced the number of parts of its quick connecting/disconnecting mechanism as compared with the quick connecting/disconnecting mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,125, there are some problems associated therewith. First, the steps required for assembling the three pieces of the female coupling would appear to be difficult to automate. Additionally, a tab-like structure is used to attach the sleeve to the female connector housing. This tab-like structure would not appear to be able to withstand high fluid pressures. Since the biasing member is an integral part of the female coupling which comes in contact with the fluid, the range of materials from which the female coupling is made will be limited to those materials with both the desired chemical and physical properties.
The present invention solves these and other problems associated with the prior art.